Beautiful Katamari

Hello fellow readers!

I've just realised how long its been since I've done a review. I do apologise for the delay...I've simply been uber lazy recently but hey...I finally got my review done so please enjoy!

I thought with my next review I go all Japanorama on ya and do a review of Beautiful Katamari which is available for the Xbox 360. Now this game has come out for the Playstation 2 and the PSPa and has become as rare as rocking horse poo (yea I said it!). Now your probably all thinking why of all the games released would this be so darn popular? Well I'm hoping to explain all in the following review.

Beautiful Katamari, the sequel to Me & My Katamari, follows the story of the King's son the Prince as he tries to save the world. Unfortunately the King has created a black hole while playing a rigours game of tennis (yeah that's exactly what happened). The black hole has gotten bigger, it has sucked up all the planets and stars, so its your job to roll up various Katamari's in order to replace them.

There are in total thirteen levels with the option to buy more via Xbox Live. Each of them have different time constraints, different size katamari's to build and different types of items to collect to create a planet. With each level, your Katamari starts at different sizes and your placed into different locations. The initial size of your Katamari you start off with and the time your given can usually dictate as to how far you can progress. But here is a challenge to all my readers, can you make your Katamari bigger then the target?

Now here is a tip for you guys to get a higher score. After each roll, if you have just reached your target size, the King usually gives you a rubbish score and tells you to do better...which is pretty naff. The only way to avoid this, get a better score and to get a sparkling review from the King you need to completely smash, and I mean SMASH the target. If you can get the biggest size Katamari as you can, be it double, triple or even ten times the size needed. This may take you a couple of goes but believe me its all worth it! Now don't worry about only going over certain items for what has happened is that in each level the majority of stuff you need to get just so happens to be what you actually need. So get rolling everyone!

I got this game when it first came out and I recently thought to play it. Now I must say I did forget how fun this game is. I've even got non Katamari fans to give it a whirl and now there just as addicted to it as I am!(and yes my sweet that comment was about you!)

The game play is very simple so even the less experienced gamer can give it a shot. You control the Katamari using the two analogue sticks, which allows you to move forward, backward and even to flip over the Katamari when you get stuck (which can happen a lot)...and that's it. As your playing it, you do find yourself getting even more excited when your Katamari is big enough to pick up more weird and wonderful items...like people, spaceships and even continents! The Japanese pop sound track compliments the game to a 'T' and believe me you'll be trying to sing to each and every track before you even know it.

If I was to moan about the game...I guess the only thing I could think of is how mean the King can be when it comes to scoring your Katamari after you finished the level. At first it was mega annoying that after playing the same level at least 3 times and only collecting the items required you can't get a score over 40. But if you follow my top tip which is above, you'll see your score improve dramatically.

Now this game may sound extremely random, which it is, but it's definitely one of those gaming gems I'd recommend everyone to at least give the demo a try. The demo is still available from Xbox Live. With all that taken into consideration I give Beautiful Katamari a handy U.F.G score of...4.5 out of 5! Keep on rollin'!

The results are in...What's your favorite console?

I've only just realised that I still haven't done a post to announce the winners of my recent poll.

Now you may have already seen the results at the size, but I do love doing a post about it...anyway. Many of you had taken the time out to vote and for that I'm uber grateful for. So here in ascending order, the results for What's your favorite console.

In joint 4th place is... Nintendo 64, Mega Drive, NES, and the GameCube

3rd is Dreamcast

Joint 2nd is Playstation 3, Wii and the Playstation 2

But in 1st with 6 votes is....Xbox 360!

Thanks to all of you who voted this time. Make sure to keep your gamer eye peeled for my up coming poll! :D

Get voting!

Hey gang,

Just a reminder to you all that you only have 11 days until the poll is closed.

Are you a PS3 nut, maybe your a Xbox 360 fan or you may even have a soft spot for anything retro and believe the Mastersystem or Megadrive was the awesome-ist console ever...if this is how you feel then make sure you get your vote in before the time runs out!

Professor Layton and the Curious Village

Now as I’ve said before, this blog was something that I should have done AGES ago but it’s finally done! My long awaited review of Professor Layton and the Curious Village.
Set in the town of St. Mystere, you play as the Professor and his nifty (and yes he is nifty) assistant Luke. Called in by the late Baron’s family, your task is to find clues and to solve the mystery behind his will. The only clue they have to go on is that they need to find The Golden Apple. Not having a clue as to where to find it, it is up to the fearless duo to go and search for it. The best way to start any investigation is to always ask the residents. But St. Mystere is no ordinary town. In order to get any information, you have to answer the many riddles and brainteasers the villagers give to you. Also along your travels you can find additional puzzles so make sure you keep your eyes peeled. As with any other DS game, you get to interact with it by using the touch screen. During the game play it’s the stylus that you use to move around the village by tapping the arrows you see on the screen. You also use your stylus to interact with residents, who can give you a puzzle or even a hint to help you on your way. The game has over 130 puzzles within the game but you also can download additional puzzles, which are available weekly via the Nintendo Wi-fi. To set this up is very quick and simple to do. Instructions of how to set this up can be found in the instruction booklet. Now dearest readers you don’t need to worry if your not a boffin when it comes to figuring out puzzles for you have the chance to earn hint coins know as Picarats. These helpful coins can give you the chance to buy hints for puzzles helping you to solve them. These coins are available after completing puzzles . The fewer hints you use to solve them, the more Picarats you can get. Here’s a tip for you! It is highly advised that when you’re moving around the town and going from room to room, to tap different parts of each scene when you have a chance for you can find not only hidden Picarats but hidden puzzles.

Now its time for a mini story about how I brought the game. When the game was about to be released, I had a £5.00 voucher which I planned to use against the game. Now I had a great feeling about it and thought I should follow my gut feeling and get it as soon as possible. Upon reflection I am so glad I did for it sold like hot cakes! So many shops had sold out and those that had preowned copies were charging the full price, so you can imagine how chuffed I was that I got it without any problems.

Anyway this game lived up to my expectations. It allowed me to feed my need to solve puzzles and to realise that I’m not that good at it, while it had a great storyline which kept you guessing. The music and the many cut scenes which you get to see during game play, I thought were absolutely amazing and were more then I expected from this game. The game play is very easy to pick up and the touch screen I found was very responsive. This is very helpful since you do find yourself tapping the screen like crazy. As with any other game, you may believe that you have to be into puzzle solving to enjoy the game, which of course does help, but I think that if your willing to play something which can give you a challenge then this could be for you.

For younger or impatient gamers it may be frustrating for you to play this for there are some puzzles which just seem absolutely impossible to solve. This can obviously deter you from the game for it did sort of put me off at times, but if your willing to power through and if all else fails, ask someone else to help (which I will hold my hands up and say I had to) then you shouldn’t have too many problems. As you may already know, this is the first instalment out of three games which are due to be released in the Professor Layton series. Providing that the others can produce a game as highly enjoyable and challenging as this, I can see no reason as to why this wouldn’t be a hit…again!
Professor Layton gets a healthy U.F.G score of 4 out of 5!

100 Views!

Hey gang...

Just a random post but as I was checking out my blog I noticed that I managed to get 100 views! Now it may not sound a hell of a lot but believe me it means so much to me to know that your reading my blog.

I also cannot forget to mention those who are following my blog and have also made comments...you guys totally ROCK! I've been working really hard to get my blog out there for this truly is my passion so to see you guys making such an effort..it gives me the drive to not only keep blogging but to also think about how to expand and make this the best blog ever!

Well that's enough of me getting all emotional...look out for my new blog for Professor Layton and the Curious Village which will be up very soon!

Zelda: Majora's Mask

I know you may all be anticipating the promised reviews for Professor Layton on the DS and Crazy taxi on the PS2, but I thought it was about time I got retro with you all…not too retro, where the chances of you knowing the game I review is very slim, but I mean the kind of retro which would make you think “Oh I think I remember that…”

So onto the review for Zelda: Majora’s Mask (Z.M.M). Released on the Nintendo 64 in 2000, this title came out about a year after Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Now this particular Zelda is very different from the previously released games and it seems that it may have been overlooked simply because of how AMAZING Zelda: Ocarina of Time was. So I thought I’d give the ‘underdog’ a review instead.

This story follows Link as he is thrown into an alternate universe, called Termina, after a brief encounter with a mischievous Skull Kid who is wearing the evil Majora’s Mask. Upon your arrival, you learn have 72 hours to not only retrieve the mask but to also stop the moon from crashing down on Termina. Now I know you’re probably thinking that this would be near impossible to achieve this feat…which it actually would be for there is way too much to do in this game. So that’s where your ocarina comes into effect. Once you’ve learnt the “Song of Time” you have the chance to relive the 72 hours all over again and save the world from its inevitable doom. This song also allows you to skip through time and more importantly, slow it down.

Also in this game, you get to collect up to 24 masks, which you get from doing good deeds and beating bosses. Many of these masks are essential in order to actually progress in the game and there usually straight forward to get. The other masks you find are for doing good deeds for the many towns’ people in Termina. The general misconception of this is that a lot of people believe that you need to get them all before you can finish the game, which is not true. You can get to the end without all masks and finish it without any problems but if you can get all 24 masks, you can get the final mask, the Fierce Deity, just as you go to fight the final boss, Majora’s Mask. Here’s a tip, if you can get the final mask it will make the final fight a hell of a lot easier so keep looking!

Now I’m currently still playing this game and it has been years since I’ve played it and I totally forgot how hard it can actually be. You’re constantly looking at the time while trying to complete the task at hand before the 72 hours are up, for of course, when you go back in time any progress made will be lost. And before you worry, you do get to keep the items and songs you’ve acquired so no need to panic. This game I think is a definite for any Zelda fan out there, who doesn’t mind a slight change to the normal Zelda format. The land of Hyrule is not being saved and Zelda doesn’t make as much of an appearance this time, but it still manages to hold its own and offer any fan the same thrill that the Zelda series gives. When playing the game you do notice that it seems to be divided into two parts; fighting bosses and collecting all the masks. Yet it does blend the two together so it does balance out.

Now I do apologise that I am biased for this particular Zelda for I did love it when it was first brought and now I’m getting back into it now, I’m falling in love with it all over again. I guess the only downside to it would be that you have to relive the 72 hours over and over again. It’s even more of a pain when your in the middle of a fight, or in my case, trying to get to the boss, and you run out of time and you have to repeat it all again (but don’t worry, I got to the end with 6 hours to spare..pheew!). Its also a shame that when you have completed any tasks, its not saved. But it is great if you enjoyed that particular mission.

So what score does Z.M.M get I hear you cry?! Well, the game still maintains many of its Zelda qualities while being able to have its own unique twist. This game has managed to live up to my expectations without leaving me feel disappointed (I refer you my blog for Metroid 3…my heart is still broken!). As you may of guessed it, I couldn’t find much to fault this game, only the downside is repeating the 72 hours so for that Z.M.M gets a healthy U.F.G score of 4.5. May the Triforce be with you!

Twitter away

Random post you guys...but I thought I'd point out that I've added a link to my Twitter profile. So now you can follow my random ramblings as well as my gaming reviews. I've also learned that you can find my post via Google! How cool is that?! All you need to do is type in 'Urban Female Gamer blog' and Bobs your uncle!